abortion prevalence and it’s mortality effects in mo’tazedi hospital of kermanshah(1992-2002)

introduction: compared to other developed countries, the maternal mortality rate is much higher in iran.  bleeding, infection and gestational hypertension are the main causes of maternal mortality and abortion is a major cause of bleeding and infection. the objective of this study was to determine the incidence of abortion and its effect on maternal mortality. materials and methods: this descriptive study examined all records of pregnancies and abortions during 1992-2002 in mo’tazedi hospital of kermanshah. the maternal mortality rate was determined per 100,000 births and the abortion rate determined per 1,000 live births. results: during this decade 115,647 births were reported.  the incidence of abortion was 115.3 per 1,000 live births.  complications associated with induced abortions were the cause of 9% of all maternal mortality.  the annual trend of the maternal mortality rate and the incidence of abortion decreased in the second half of this decade. conclusion: in this decade, abortion was the cause of 9% of all maternal mortality. the decreasing incidence of abortion in the second half of the decade may be due to either the application of total legation or the lack of referrals to the hospital.  determination of the underlying causes of the observed changes needs further researches in the province of kermanshah.